When Monsignor Keefer retired and Father McMahon became the parish’s third pastor in June, 1970, efforts were made to increase the responsibilities of parishioners in important functions of administration. Father McMahon established the parish council and school board. Members of the congregation were elected to these offices. Although the parish previously had similar committees, they were not elected by the parish-at-large. For example, the parish council, during 1983 and 1984 recommended an extensive $75,000 renovation project in the Church and made arrangements to raise funds to cover the costs.

Two members of the parish council, Regis Block and Jim Brown, represented Resurrection in a coalition with six other local churches to develop “Parkside Manor,” a $3,700,000 senior citizen apartment building next to the Brookline Community Center.

The next fourteen years in the parish’s history were busy times. Two events stand out above the others: the canonization of Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton and the parish’s observance in the USA’s 1976 Bicentennial.

The Sisters of Charity had been serving Resurrection since the beginning of the parish school, almost 75 years before. So, members of the parish shared with them the special joy they experienced when Pope John Paul II announced in January, 1975, that their founder, Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton, had been named to the Communion of Saints. January 9 of that year, children of the school and parishioners jammed the church for a Mass of Thanksgiving.

Almost 19 months later, the members of Resurrection led the Brookline community in celebrating the 200th anniversary of our country’s independence. The Fourth of July, 1976, fell on a Sunday and hundreds of parishioners gathered in the Church courtyard that morning, then marched to the Brookline Community Center for an outdoor Mass.  A cascade of 1500 helium-filled balloons was released at the start of the Liturgy.  A colorful pageantry was further accented by a “Dance of Thanksgiving” performed by the fourth graders.